Following news earlier this week that Band of Outsiders is probably dusted, this morning WWD broke the news that Kris Van Assche is shutting down his eponymous label. He actually wrote a hand-written letter to disclose this news, so you know it's shit's really real. The designer who spent time under Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent and Dior Homme founded his own label in January 2005 and also took over the creative director post at Dior Homme when Slimane left in 2007 and has been there ever since.
In his letter, KVA noted that "times are tough for independent labels." Isn't that the truth. He also relayed the news that the label will not be producing or distributing its F/W 15 collection, which deprives us of the crazy, Jordan XI-like sneakers seen in our footwear roundup. In all seriousness, this has me fucked up, fam. Van Assche's sport-infused, technical yet still buttoned-up aesthetic was one I really enjoyed. Van Assche will continue on at Dior Homme though, where his aesthetic often gets filtered through an upscale and black tie lens. But still, Bummer City, population menswear nerds everywhere.
